This was one of our gifts! Savy got them on Etsy!

I was waiting for this past weekend for what felt like FOREVER!

This weekend was definitely full of many “firsts” for me:

• First time visiting the Roanoke area in several years.
• First time ever staying in an Airbnb.
• First time going on a significant hike.
• First time ever getting an Uber.
• First time, since college, going out and dancing.

There were six of us sharing the Airbnb – Savy, Crystal, Vong, Anna, Brittany, and myself. We all got along great, and had a fabulous weekend!

Friday

Anna and I both were able to take the day off from work. Since I offered to make breakfast for everyone on Saturday morning, I went to Aldi and got all the fixings for French toast and bacon, plus OJ, milk, and coffee. I took my time, since I was picking up Anna at her house in Virginia Beach at 11:00 a.m. My parents offered to let me borrow one of their coolers, plus ice packs and frozen water bottles, so I stopped by their house for about 45 minutes and caught up with my mom.

I got to Virginia Beach early enough to figure out where Anna lived, then topped off my gas tank at BJ’s in Norfolk. I got back to Anna’s around 10:45. We got her stuff in the car, and then headed out!

Traffic was blissfully light – It was just a long-haul drive. We stopped for lunch at a McDonald’s just outside of Richmond. This restaurant had the traditional line, but also two new ordering kiosks. That was certainly interesting.

We got back on the road, and made it all the way to the Waynesboro area before I stopped at a Wendy’s for the bathroom, and the biggest root beer they offered. We still had about two hours left at that point!

All told, it took about five hours to reach the Airbnb in Roanoke, and we got there around 4:45 p.m. Anna and I explored the house, claimed our bedrooms, and then unloaded the car. We hung out for a while. Savy, Crystal, and Vong rode together, and arrived around 6:15 p.m.

I didn’t take a lot of photos of the Airbnb, but it was a really nice house. In addition to the six beds (Three on the second floor, and the other three in the finished basement), there was a spacious living room, sweet kitchen, and an awesome deck right off the first floor!

Once Savy, Crystal, and Vong arrived and got settled, we headed out to find dinner. The good news was we were just a few minutes from downtown Roanoke, and we had a TON of food options. Savy recommended eating as much starch and protein as we could, in preparation for the hike.

We ended up at a really cool place called Bushi. They offer sushi burritos and poke bowls. They’ve only been open for three months, but it was a nice set-up. The vegetables were incredibly fresh (The head chef / manager was slicing avocados while we were there), and the staff made everything in front of you, to your liking. I got the “Don’t Tuna Around” sushi burrito – I loved it! The only wrinkle was it fell apart really quickly, and it was pretty messy, but it didn’t matter. I ate every bite.

After dinner, we drove to the local Kroger. Vong got all the stuff for sandwiches for the hike, plus fresh apples, trail mix, a case of water, and a few other things. Savy wanted to pay for some of it, and we said absolutely not! Between Crystal, Vong, and I, we made it work.

For the rest of Friday night, we just enjoyed the amazing cool air on the deck with the patio furniture, sharing stories, popcorn, Cheez-Its, and iced animal crackers. I stayed up until 11:00 p.m. or so, but I knew I needed to get up around 5:30 a.m. to start breakfast!

Saturday

I’m glad I got up around 5:30 a.m., because I needed the prep time for breakfast! I made the French toast first, and then started on the bacon. I saved the scrambled eggs for last. I used 11 eggs total!

Vong was the first one up, and we waited for everyone else to get up to eat. It took some brain power to figure out the Ninja coffee maker, but it worked like a charm.

We ate together at the dining room table and drank mimosa with our mugs, along with coffee. After breakfast, everyone scattered to take showers and get dressed. We also slathered ourselves in sunscreen and heavy-duty bug spray.

Scrambled eggs, bacon, and French toast with syrup.

I drove Vong and Brittany in my car, and then Savy took Crystal and Anna in hers. It was about a 20-minute drive to McAfee Knob. It’s part of the Appalachian Trail!

The parking lot was already pretty full when we arrived, which was around 9:15 a.m. We set off to start at 9:20 a.m. There were several people coming DOWN the trail as we started!

This hike was HARD. I’m talking steep elevation, billions of rocks and boulders, thinning air, and navigating tree roots. But, it was completely worth it. I was definitely the slowest of the group, but we took several breaks for water and KIND bars to keep our energy up.

There were gigantic boulders throughout the hike!

This was one of the places where we stopped for a break. The clearing was full of thousands of plants and wildflowers!

This was a series of photos from the top. It was absolutely breathtaking. I almost cried! It felt like a huge accomplishment. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get to the top, but it was absolutely worth it. We spent about 45 minutes at the top, where we ate lunch, people-watched, dog-watched (So many dogs!), and taking photos. According to my FitBit, it was 11,000 steps!!

Obligatory group photo, or it didn’t happen! L to R: Brittany, Laura Beth, Savy, Anna, Vong, and Crystal.

Most everyone had their photo taken like this. I was a little nervous, but it was awesome!

In total, it was basically a six-hour hike, round trip. I counted 22,000 steps total!

After the hike, we headed back to the Airbnb. I’m so glad Savy took me through a series of stretches, because otherwise, I definitely would not be walking so easily today! Everything from the waist down hurts, but it’s an awesome feeling.

We took showers and vegged out for several hours on Saturday. Savy and Vong made a freaking fantastic spaghetti dinner, with three pounds of meat in the sauce, plus garlic bread, and salad. I don’t know what Vong did, but she added orange juice to the leftover honey mustard for salad dressing, and it was amazing!!

After dinner, most of us took power naps, since we were going out dancing later. We had a blast!

This was the selfie that I sent to Al before going out!

Sunday

We were able to extend the Airbnb check-out time to 12:00 p.m., which was great, since many slept in, Brittany made an amazing bread pudding for breakfast, and we had to clean up!

Brittany’s bread pudding consisted of day-old croissants, ham, cheese, eggs, green peppers, onions, and probably a few other ingredients. It was SO GOOD!

After checking out, we headed toward Charlottesville to visit the Michael Shaps Wineworks. It was on the way home, and highly recommended.

We visited the Tasting Room, and dined on amazing Brie cheese and toasted bread. Michael Shaps offers various French and Virginia wines, and it’s a family-owned business. It was really cool learning about the history of the winery, and how they grow their grapes in France, as well as Virginia. Anna got a bottle, and I bought Savy a bottle of her favorite red for the wedding!

After the tasting, we headed toward home. It was a long drive, but it was a great end to a fabulous weekend. Anna was so sweet and paid for my gas on the way home, and I dropped her off around 6:30 p.m. My car got basically 40 miles to the gallon between Friday and Sunday!!

I got home just after 7:00 p.m. Al helped me unload the car. We started a load of laundry, and then we compared notes about our weekends. Al celebrated Nick’s bachelor weekend in Virginia Beach and Richmond. Everyone was thoroughly entertained, to say the least. By 8:30 p.m., we headed to bed!

Savy – I had an AMAZING weekend. Thank you so much for including me in the festivities! I had so much fun.

Until the next headline, Laura Beth 🙂